Volume 9, No. 43 ©SS 2017
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2017
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DMZ is more tourist mecca than war zone BY K IM GAMEL Stars and Stripes
GOSEONG, South Korea — Tourists snapped photos with North Korean mountains in the background, apparently unaware or unconcerned that they were about 60 miles away from the launch site of a morning missile test. The Korean Peninsula is bisected by the Demilitarized Zone, a misnomer because the 2.5-milewide, 150-mile-long no man’s land is lined with barbed wire and is dotted with land mines. That doesn’t stop hordes of South Koreans, Americans and other sightseers from getting as close as they can, making the area near the world’s most heavily fortified border an unlikely tourist mecca. “I came here from Seoul with acquaintances to look at the views,” said Lee Hae Eun, 31, during a recent visit to the observatory that overlooks the DMZ at the east coast border city of Goseong. She knew that North Korea had fired a trio of short-range missiles hours earlier. “I’m not worried that North Korea will do something even
though it’s very near here. North Korea conducts provocations all the time,” she said. Such has been the paradoxical state of affairs on the divided peninsula since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty. The North is known to have tens of thousands of soldiers and massive amounts of artillery dug into positions near its side of the DMZ. But traffic jams clog southern highways as people head toward the front lines, which can appear more like a theme park than a war zone. SEE MECCA ON PAGE 2
A tourist bikes across a Korean War memorial bridge near Inje, South Korea, on Aug. 26. M ARCUS FICHTL Stars and Stripes
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Mecca: DMZ tour at the demarcation line favorite among dignitaries, tourists
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FROM FRONT PAGE
‘Money shot’ Many foreigners are familiar with the side of the DMZ that includes the truce village of Panmunjom in the Joint Security Area, with a row of blue buildings that straddle the military demarcation line and are used for talks between the sides. South Korean agencies and the USO run near-daily bus tours to the area, about 35 miles northwest of the capital, Seoul, for about $100. It’s usually on the agenda of visiting dignitaries, who are photographed standing on the demarcation line in what news photographers and camera crews call the “money shot.” During a trip in April, Vice President Mike Pence gazed toward the North from the steps of the Freedom House — the main visitors’ hall. Tourists can even step into North Korea inside one of the blue buildings after being briefed about its history as the site of talks leading to the armistice agreement that ended the fighting but left the countries in a technical state of war. Once outside, soldiers enforce strict rules about movements and photos. Guides can no longer stop at the Bridge of No Return and the site of the 1976 ax murders of two U.S. officers because of the tension. People on these tours also trek through a mile-long infiltration tunnel dug by North Korea and discovered by South Korean forces in 1978. Another highlight is peering out at the North through coin-operated binoculars from the Dorasan Observatory as socialist propaganda blares through loudspeakers. A giant map explains what can be
Above: Tourists spy on North Korea near Goseong, South Korea. Left: Tourists watch a video about the Korean War. PHOTOS
seen on the other side, including the now-closed joint industrial park in Kaesong; the so-called propaganda village of Kijong-dong, which is believed to be largely vacant; and, on a clear day, a giant statue of the communist state’s founder, Kim Il Sung. A new $7 million building, which will be nearly 40 feet closer to the North, is under construction to offer a better view. Retired Army Lt. Col. Stephen Tharp, a Korea specialist writing a series of DMZ guidebooks, said tourism in the area began in the early 1970s and has developed rapidly. “Each place keeps changing,” he said.
North Korea also conducts tours on its side of the JSA, but Americans won’t be joining those anytime soon. President Donald Trump’s administration has barred U.S. citizens from traveling to North Korea as of Sept. 1 because of concerns about detentions after the death of student Otto Warmbier.
North of the 38th Parallel Panmunjom is on the famous circle of latitude that once divided the peninsula between U.S.-backed forces in the south and communist troops in the north. But the DMZ was carved after
M ARCUS FICHTL Stars and Stripes
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the 1950-53 war and snakes from south to well north of the 38th Parallel until it reaches the white sands that line the east coast. If you drive, you may want to stop at 38 Coffee before heading to parallels north. If you surf, there’s the so-called 38th Parallel beach. Goseong, which has a population of about 56,000, used to be part of North Korea and is in the province of Gangwon, which was split during the war. On the North Korean side, about 60 miles away, is the port city of Wonsan, which has been the launch site for several missile tests into the turquoise waters of the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in South Korea. The lush, mountainous inland area was the site of some of the fiercest fighting of the war, including the 1951 battles of Heartbreak Ridge and the Punchbowl. SEE PAGE 3
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“Sometimes it was North Korea, sometimes it was South Korea,” said Tharp, who often takes U.S. Korean War veterans on trips to see their former battlefields. Many monuments testify to victories and defeats, including a unique red bridge that crosses a river near the city of Inje dedicated to the memory of Army 2nd Lt. Thomas W. Livingston Jr. The bridge is decorated with life-size statues and silhouettes of U.S. soldiers in action, reminiscent of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington. A plaque says Livingston was fatally wounded in an ambush in 1952, leading many men to drown trying to retreat across the river. Livingston is quoted as saying that a bridge in the area would have saved many lives. Other reminders of potential danger include artillery positions and South Korean army bases visible from the highway, which is also lined with stalls selling roasted corn on the cob and potato cakes. Now it’s popular with sunbathers and hikers, as evidenced by the colorful hotels that dot the coast until you hit the barbed wire fences and guard posts aimed at preventing amphibious infiltrations from the North. Popular tourist sites include former villas used by the U.S.backed first leader of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, and North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. The Goseong Unification Observatory offers a glimpse of North Korea’s Mount Kumgang, which was the site of past cultural exchanges between the two rivals until a tourist was killed by a North Korean soldier after wandering into a restricted zone in 2008. Sgt. 1st Class Rebekka Johnson, 36, of Rock Hill, S.C., joined a bus tour to the area weeks after de-
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Top: Tourists pose for pictures and walk around a Demilitarized Zone observatory near Goseong, South Korea, on Aug. 26. Above: Tourists enjoy one of Goseong’s beaches. PHOTOS
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M ARCUS FICHTL /Stars and Stripes
ploying to Camp Carroll this past summer with the 498th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. “I just love history and wanted to see it,” she said before heading out to the observatory deck.
Olympic worries Many South Koreans say they feel immune to the tensions after decades of brinkmanship in relations with North Korea. A display in the sprawling DMZ museum in Goseong offers sobering perspective with a list of incidents — two South Korean soldiers maimed by land mines, artillery fire exchanged, a border island shelled, a warship torpedoed. Local officials say the number of tourists at the DMZ and surrounding areas has decreased slightly since last year, but that’s largely because of a decline in Chinese tourists due to a diplomatic spat over a U.S. missile defense system. The area of Paju, which makes up the western half of the DMZ, recorded 223,047 foreign and
South Korean tourists from January through June, compared with 265,695 in the same period last year. Those figures don’t include the Joint Security Area, which is controlled by the United Nations. There were 1.4 million tourists in the Goseon area for the first six months of this year, compared with 1.5 million for the same period in 2016, according to the local tourism department. Rising fears over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program have cast a shadow over the Winter Olympics, beginning in February in Pyeongchang, about 50 miles south
of the DMZ. Facing questions about security, the International Olympic Committee has expressed confidence that the games will go on as planned. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has met with the leaders of China and South Korea. “In none of the discussions has anybody expressed any doubt” about the Olympics, the IOC said in a recent statement. “Athletes’ safety and security are of course a primary concern for the IOC,” it added. gamel.kim@stripes.com Twitter: @kimgamel
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OFFICER UNDER FIRE BY DIANNA CAHN M EREDITH TIBBETTS
AND
Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Since graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point last year to become an infantry officer, 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone has left a long trail of social media posts that take aim at top political leaders including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Sen. John McCain, and paint a picture of a man with deep anti-establishment convictions. It was only when he posted pictures of himself late last month in full uniform with blatant communist propaganda that Rapone drew the attention of authorities who are now investigating him on suspicion of violating military regulations. Rapone had deployed to Afghanistan as an enlisted soldier before becoming an officer. He graduated from West Point in May 2016 and just completed infantry officer training school at Fort Benning, Ga. The images went up within a month of his arrival at the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., for his first assignment as an officer, Brigade spokesman Capt. Michael Mahar said. In a tweet Sept. 24 from his Twitter account @punkproletarian, Rapone posted a photograph of himself in his West Point cadet uniform with the words “Communism will win” written inside his hat. The tweet bore the hashtag #VeteransForKaepernick, referring to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose refusal to stand for the national anthem last year in protest of police mistreatment of minorities sparked controversy that mushroomed last week into a standoff between President Donald Trump and NFL players. Rapone’s tweet went viral on social media, sparking outrage. “This man is in my unit. He is a traitor of the United States and at the same time a commissioned officer,” one soldier wrote on Facebook.
Afghanistan vet had history of inflammatory social media posts
Authorities are investigating Army 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone, who’s assigned to Fort Drum, N.Y., for posting photos of himself at his U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduation with pro-communist messages under his uniform. Screenshot from Twitter
“Watch your 6 with that (expletive) around,” said one response, using military jargon for “be careful.” On Sept. 25, Rapone posted another photo of himself in uniform, pulling open his jacket to expose an image of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. He tweeted the words: “In case there was any lingering doubt, hasta la victoria siempre,” a favorite saying of Guevara’s that means “To victory, always!” The tweets were the latest in a long stream of political social media posts that were public on his Twitter and Facebook accounts until Sept. 28, when they were turned private. In the posts, he took aim at President Donald Trump, calling for resistance, and used expletives and insults against Mattis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain. Mahar said Rapone was in the field with his battalion, where he is an assistant operations officer helping to facilitate live fire exercises. Those concluded Sept. 29, he said. Rapone was being scrutinized under Department of Defense directive 1344.10, Mahar said, which states that “a member of the Armed Forces on active duty may register, vote and express a personal opinion on political candidates and issues, but not as a representative of the Armed Forces.” The 2nd Brigade Combat Team issued a statement saying, “Both the Department of Defense and the Army have long-standing policies encouraging soldiers to participate in the democratic process. However, the Army has strict rules regarding the wear and appearance of Army uniforms. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division chain of command is aware of 2nd Lt. Rapone’s alleged actions and is looking into the matter.” Rapone did not respond to an attempt to reach out to him through his Twitter account.
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Soldier killed in Iraq was on his first deployment BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes
Army Spc. Alexander W. Missildine joined the Army in 2015. FROM PAGE 4
Rapone graduated from West Point on May 27, 2016. The institution issued a statement, saying Rapone’s actions “in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army.” “As figures of public trust, members of the military must exhibit exemplary conduct, and are prohibited from engaging in certain expressions of political speech in uniform,” the statement said. Francis Demaro, a spokesman for the academy, said it issued the statement after receiving media queries. Asked whether the photos were from Rapone’s West Point graduation, Demaro said, “It seems to be.” Among the more controversial social media posts, Rapone wrote on his Facebook page — under the name of the Italian politician who took on the Mafia, Giuseppe Impastato — that Sessions is a “racist piece of (expletive) who has caused nothing but pain and suffering.” In June, he tweeted that
WASHINGTON — The U.S. soldier killed in a roadside bomb blast Sunday in Iraq was a 20-year-old transport driver less than a month into his first overseas deployment, according to the Pentagon. Army Spc. Alexander W. Missildine died Sunday of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in northern Iraq, according to a Pentagon statement released Tuesday. He was assigned to the 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Polk in Louisiana. One other American soldier was injured in the attack in
Nineveh province, where U.S.backed Iraqi security forces in recent months have driven Islamic State militants from Mosul, the group’s former capital in Iraq, and Tal Afar, a smaller town about 40 miles to its west. Portions of the province remain littered with explosives and other booby traps, a favorite weapon among ISIS fighters, Pentagon officials have said. Missildine was from Tyler, Texas. He joined the Army in July 2015 and arrived at his unit at Fort Polk that December. The unit deployed to Iraq in September, replacing an element of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, tasked with training and assisting Iraqi
security forces as they battle the remains of ISIS in the group’s final Iraqi territories — Hawija in northern Iraq and in western Anbar province near the Syrian border. Missildine was the 13th U.S. servicemember killed by enemy actions in Iraq or Syria since the United States began fighting ISIS in 2014, according to Pentagon data. More than 50 troops have been wounded in action. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, according to the Army. Missildine is survived by his mother, father and stepparents, the Army said. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC
‘ The Department of Defense and
the Army ... [encourage] soldiers to participate in the democratic process. However, the Army has strict rules regarding the wear and appearance of Army uniforms.
’
Mattis was “the most vile, evil [expletive]” in the administration. And in July he tweeted that he would “happily dance” on McCain’s grave. In August, Rapone posted an article online that he wrote taking aim at the “Confederate iconography” found at West Point, including a statue and painting of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. His purpose, he wrote, “is for these vile displays of racial oppression to be cast into the dustbin of history once and for all.” Rapone wrote that he and others had confronted the administration of West Point for a number of years but they
2nd Brigade Combat Team “continue to drag their feet.” “Enough is enough,” he wrote. “Whether you are a soldier, cadet or civilian, the judgment of history is upon us.” After posting a link to the article on Reddit as SRap1, Rapone expressed his admiration for Chelsea Manning, a transgender intelligence analyst who, in 2009, leaked classified military documents and was convicted under the Espionage Act. “I feel like we should not hide any longer,” he wrote in a post that has since been removed. Earlier, while Manning’s prison release was pending,
Via Twitter
Second Lt. Spenser Rapone tweeted a photo expressing support for Communism that went viral on social media, sparking outrage. Rapone posted on Facebook that she set “the example of what integrity and strength of
conviction truly entails.” cahn.dianna@stripes.com Twitter: @starsandstripes
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Metro’s Best Hibachi Grill Miyabi
Metro’s Best Pre-owned Car Dealership Milton Ruben Superstore
Metro’s Best Auto Repair Shop C&C Automotive
Metro’s Best Full-Service Caterer Fat Man’s Mill Cafe and Events
Metro’s Best Wine Shop The Vineyard Wine Market
Metro’s Best Carpet Cleaning Stanley Steemer
Metro’s Best Butcher Lanier’s Fresh Meat Market
Metro’s Best Vape Shop Victorious Vapors
Metro’s Best Law Firm The Hawk Firm
Metro’s Best Grocery Store Kroger
Metro’s Best Cigar Shop Top Shelf Cigar & Tobacco Shoppe
Metro’s Best Senior Living Center Brandon Wilde
Metro’s Best Bar (overall) The Indian Queen
Metro’s Best Golf Cart Dealership Club Car
Metro’s Best Tattoo Studio Allegiance Ink
Metro’s Best Bartender Megan at Farmhaus
Metro’s Best Fitness Center The Family Y
Metro’s Best Wedding Reception Venue The Barn at Sanderlin Horse Farm
Metro’s Best Outdoor Dining Metro’s Best Trivia Night Pizza Joint
Metro’s Best Best Place to Dance Dance Party Party The Country Club
Metro’s Best Yoga Studio Oxygen Fitness Studio
Metro’s Best Hotel Partridge Inn
Metro’s Best Southern Food Metro’s Best Casual Caterer WifeSaver
Metro’s Best Karaoke Mi Rancho
Metro’s Best Public Golf Course Jones Creek Golf Club
Metro’s Best Local Band Ed Turner & Number 9
Metro’s Best Martial Arts School Greubel’s Mixed Martial Arts
Metro’s Best Local Solo Artist Ray Fulcher
Metro’s Best Gymnastics Center Gymnastics Gold
Metro’s Best Nightly Live Music Sky City
Metro’s Best Hair Salon Studio 285
Metro’s Best Event Venue Lady Antebellum Amphitheater Metro’s Best Arts Organization Greater Augusta Arts Council
metrospirit.com
Metro’s Best Restaurant (overall) Metro’s Best Date Night Destination Metro’s Best Steak Frog Hollow Tavern
Metro’s Best Breakfast Sunrise Grill Metro’s Best Brunch Metro’s Best Vegetarian The Bee’s Knees
Metro’s Best Happy Hour Prices Sonic Drive-In Metro’s Best Local Brewery Savannah River Brewing Company Metro’s Best Bathroom At home
Metro’s Best Hamburger Metro’s Best Lunch Farmhaus Burger
Metro’s Best Jewelry Store Windsor Fine Jewelers
Metro’s Best Place to Get a Massage Metro’s Best Salon and Spa Tuscany
Metro’s Best Dessert The Boll Weevil Cafe
Metro’s Best Thrift Store Goodwill
Metro’s Best Barber Old Tyme Tattoo and Barber
Metro’s Best Wine List Metro’s Best Place for Craft Cocktails Craft & Vine
Metro’s Best Music Equipment/ Instrument Store Portman’s Music Superstore
Metro’s Best Dental Practice Dr. Rebecca Hobbs
Metro’s Best Beer Selection World of Beer Metro’s Best Coffee shop New Moon Cafe Metro’s Best Oysters Abel Brown Metro’s Best Gyro Laziza Mediterranean Grill Metro’s Best BBQ Southbound Smokehouse Metro’s Best Burrito Nacho Mama’s Metro’s Best Pizza Metro’s Best Best Restaurant to Chill on Sunday Night Mellow Mushroom
Metro’s Best Bicycle Shop Andy Jordan’s Bicycle Warehouse Metro’s Best Hunting Supplies Store Cabela’s Metro’s Best Outdoor Recreation Supplies Store Academy Sports + Outdoors Metro’s Best Kayak Sales Escape Outdoors Metro’s Best Gun Store Southeastern Armory Metro’s Best Outdoor Kitchen Sales and Installation Fireside Outdoor Kitchens & Grills Metro’s Best New Car Dealership Gerald Jones Auto Group
Metro’s Best Dermatology Practice Evans Dermatology Metro’s Best Plastic Surgery Center Augusta Plastic Surgery Metro’s Best Hospital Metro’s Best Prompt Care University Hospital Metro’s Best Closing Attorney David Huguenin Metro’s Best IT Company Computer One Metro’s Best Credit Union SRP FCU Metro’s Best Tree Service Big Dog Stump and Tree Metro’s Best Lawn Care Service Turf Pride
Metro’s Best Local Visual Artist Leonard “Porkchop” Zimmerman Metro’s Best Dance Studio Augusta West Dance Studio Metro’s Best Annual Festival Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival Metro’s Best Radio Station Kicks99 Metro’s Best Morning Radio Show The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show Metro’s Best On Air Radio Personality Austin Rhodes Metro’s Best TV News Personality Barclay Bishop Metro’s Best Local News Station WJBF Metro’s Best Local Politician Deke Copenhaver Metro’s Best Favorite Community Advocate Pam Tucker
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Congratulations to Metro’s Best 2017 Winners
IT HAS BEEN 10 years since the readers of the Metro Spirit first began voting for Metro’s Best, and the competition always proves to be even more exciting than the previous year. This year, our readers let all of Augusta know that they have very good taste. Whether it was the selection of Frog Hollow Tavern as Metro’s Best Restaurant Overall or the choice of Andy Jordan’s Bicycle Warehouse as Metro’s Best Bicycle Shop for its 10th year in a row or the announcement of first-time winner Savannah River Brewing Company as Metro’s Best Local Brewery, it is always a blast to celebrate the winners. And one local business that needs no introduction is the Metro’s Best sponsor and longtime winner of Metro’s Best Jewelry Store, Windsor Fine Jewelers. Windsor has been a Metro’s Best winner for the past 10 years and always celebrates with a landslide victory. Serving its customers since 1975, Windsor owner Donnie Thompson has spent more than 40 years establishing an outstanding reputation as one of the best in the business. These days, Windsor Jewelers’ little green box has come to represent some of the finest jewelry offered across this country. The Metro Spirit wants to deeply thank Mr. Thompson and his staff at Windsor Fine Jewelers for their support and incredible service to this community. Congratulations to all of the Metro’s Best winners!
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Thank You!
Friday, October 6, 2017
THANKS FOR VOTING SOUTHEASTERN ARMORY “BEST PLACE TO BUY A GUN” IN AUGUSTA. We have thousands of firearms in stock and on display. We offer an incredible selection of factory and after-market accessories to enhance any outfit. We look forward to assisting you in expanding your pre-existing firearms inventory or starting you off with your very first firearm purchase. We try our absolute best to provide a level of customer service unlike any other. We look forward to seeing each and everyone of you at our store! THANK YOU AGAIN, AUGUSTA!
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WAR ON TERRORISM
Senators grill DOD chiefs on war strategy BY CLAUDIA GRISALES Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — A key group of senators took the country’s top defense officials to task Tuesday over their inability to obtain crucial details from the Pentagon and the White House on the U.S. war strategy in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received a frustrated and sometimes angry reception during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee focused on military plans in Afghanistan and South Asia. At the start of a full day of congressional hearings for Mattis and Dunford, Sen. John McCain, chairman of Armed Services Committee, said the Pentagon was woefully behind on its responsibility to work in concert with Congress. “We want to be your partners. But this committee will not be a rubber stamp for any policy or president. We must be well-informed,” a frustrated McCain, R-Ariz., told Mattis and Dunford at the hearing. “We must be convinced of the merits of the administration’s actions. And, unfortunately, we still have far more questions than answers about this new strategy,” McCain said. The hearing highlighted the strained relationship between key senators and President Donald Trump’s administration, especially as it attempts to revamp the U.S. strategy to combat terrorism overseas. The new strategy includes sending an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Mattis’ and Dunford’s tes-
timony on Capitol Hill comes during the week of the 16th anniversary of U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan. U.S. and coalition forces began combat operations against al-Qaida in the country in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks. More than 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed and more than 20,000 injured in the war. In highlighting the communication breakdown between Congress and the Pentagon, McCain scolded Mattis and Dunford for their “bizarre” move not to submit prepared written testimony to the Armed Services Committee ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. Mattis said defense officials will do better. He recognizes “the need to maintain the closest possible dialogue with Congress and, specifically, with this committee,” he said. “I pledge the Department of Defense will be fully responsive to your requirement to be kept appraised of current and planned operations.” Mattis then expanded on the Pentagon’s new strategy to “regionalize, reinforce, reconcile and sustain” operations in Afghanistan. The strategy is to focus on a larger region that includes India, Pakistan and other surrounding countries,
‘After 16 years, should the taxpayers of America be satisfied we are in a “stalemate”? ’
Sen. John McCain R-Ariz.
CARLOS BONGIOANNI /Stars and Stripes
Sen. John McCain, left, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaks with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, center, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis before to the start of a hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington. realign with more advisers on training and advisory support and ensure the plans are sustainable, he said. Today, there are about 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, along with more than 320,000 Afghan and coalition forces. “We must always remember, we are in Afghanistan to make America safer and ensure South Asia cannot be used to plot transnational attacks against the U.S. homeland or our partners and allies,” Mattis said. Mattis and Dunford also testified Tuesday afternoon before the House Armed Services Committee. The hearings follow a confirmation hearing last week for Dunford, who was easily reappointed to his position. However, this was after McCain raised growing concerns over the disconnect between Congress and the Pentagon. Senators at the hearing also raised their concern that few specifics have been revealed about the Trump administration’s plans to change the U.S.
strategy in Pakistan. “Too often, members of this committee are learning in the media for the first time about major national security and military activities,” McCain said last week. Instead, Congress should be informed and consulted, McCain said. Otherwise, it could be forced to take extreme actions to ensure it is part of the conversation. “We have to provide our troops with the vital authorities and resources they need to perform their missions,” McCain said. “That is our separate, co-equal responsibility under the Constitution.” Other senators raised a concern that the new Afghanistan strategy won’t lead to success. “Sixteen years of evidence suggests otherwise,” argued Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass. The new strategy could be “more of the same,” she said. Republicans have claimed former President Barack Obama’s administration, with original plans to withdraw from Afghanistan, helped
hamstring military operations. Now, military officials contend the United States has reached a “stalemate” in its longest war. “After 16 years, should the taxpayers of America be satisfied we are in a ‘stalemate’?” McCain asked. “I don’t think so.” In August, Trump reversed course on a campaign pledge to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan, instead laying out a new but vague plan to boost the troop count there. The move came after months of questions and delays. Since the Aug. 21 announcement, there have been limited new details on the plan, other than the addition of about 3,000 troops. “In the six weeks since the president made his announcement, this committee, and the Congress more broadly, still does not know many of the crucial details of this strategy,” McCain said. “This is totally unacceptable.” grisales.claudia@stripes.com Twitter: @cgrisales
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MILITARY
Eligible AF captains to be automatically promoted to major BY M ARCUS FICHTL Stars and Stripes
Most Air Force captains can count on automatic promotion to major after Dec. 1, the service has announced. “Beginning December 2017, the pool of line officers considered for promotion to major will have a 100 percent promotion opportunity,” said a statement issued last month. The move addresses a shortage of 1,555 pilots and manning shortages in other jobs usually filled by majors that have ballooned in recent years as officers opt for commercial aviation jobs, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson said earlier this year. Just under one in 10 Air
Force jobs for field-grade line officers, whose main job involves commanding troops, are vacant while about one in four nonrated field-grade officer jobs are unfilled, the statement said. “With this change, captains whose conduct has been exemplary can expect to be promoted to major,” Wilson said. “We’ve been letting capable people leave the service and we need them.” Only a few officers will not be eligible for the automatic promotion — those with a record of disciplinary action and those with rare “do not promote” records, the Air Force statement said. fichtl.marcus@stripes.com Twitter: @marcusfichtl
Navy IDs pilots killed in jet trainer crash BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Lt. Patrick L. Ruth and Lt. j.g. Wallace E. Burch were the Navy pilots killed Sunday when the T-45C training jet that they were flying crashed into the Cherokee National Forest in eastern Tennessee, the Navy announced Tuesday. Both pilots were assigned to the “Eagles” of Training Squadron 7, Training Air Wing ONE and stationed at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi, said Navy Lt. Elizabeth Feaster, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Training. An investigation into the crash near the town of Tellico Plains was ongoing Tuesday and it remained unclear what caused the incident, she said. Training Squadron 7 grounded their aircraft Monday for 24 hours but returned to flying the two-seat jets Tuesday, Feaster said. Ruth, 31, was from Metairie, La. He had served nine
years in the Navy and joined Training Squadron 7 in 2015, according to the service. Burch, 25, was from Horn Lake, Miss. He had served nearly three years in the Navy and joined Training Squadron 7 in 2016, according to the service. The Sunday crash was the latest in a string of incidents that led the Navy to ground its T-45 fleet for four months earlier this year. The service only returned the trainer jets to flight status in August following a series of physiological episodes, caused at least in part by problems with the jets’ oxygen-delivery system, according to a Navy investigation released in July. The Navy blamed the deaths of at least four F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet pilots on a similar issue with that plane. It was not clear Tuesday whether the fatal crash Sunday was related to that issue. dickstein.corey@stripes.com Twitter: @CDicksteinDC
ELIJAH LEINAAR /Courtesy of the U.S. Navy
Chief Victor Grandados carries a folded flag to present to family members during the USS John S. McCain memorial service at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on Wednesday.
Yokosuka honors McCain sailors killed in collision BY T YLER HLAVAC Stars and Stripes
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The 7th Fleet’s new commander said “words are inadequate to express the grief we feel in losing 10 of our own,” during a ceremony Wednesday honoring USS John S. McCain sailors killed in an Aug. 21 collision near Singapore. “We owe it to the families of the fallen sailors to find out why this happened and to make changes so that this doesn’t happen again,” Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer told those packed inside the 650-seat Fleet Theater for the service, a Navy statement said. Before the ceremony, more than 2,000 servicemembers, civilians and Japanese base workers saluted and waved American flags as a procession of McCain sailors, friends and family members were bused from Yokosuka’s chapel to the theater for the service, which was closed to media. The ceremony was also attended by new U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty, Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Scott Swift, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Adm. Yutaka Murakawa and Yokosuka Mayor Katsuaki Kamiiji, the statement said.
Swift praised the McCain crew’s response in the aftermath of the collision. “I have no doubt that your damage control efforts not only saved the ship but also saved the lives of many of your shipmates, enabling them to join us here today,” he said, according to the statement. “Know that your Navy family is committed to ensuring that you, the families and crew of John S. McCain, have the resources you need to continue your healing.” Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer ordered the fleet to fly U.S. ensigns at half-mast from sunrise to sunset Wednesday to mourn the lost sailors. Most McCain sailors have returned to Yokosuka after being grounded at Changi Naval Base, Singapore, after the collision between the guided-missile destroyer and an oil tanker. A few are still in Singapore helping prepare the McCain for transport back to Yokosuka by midto-late October, Navy officials said. Yokosuka’s Fleet Theater was the site of a June ceremony that paid respects to the seven USS Fitzgerald sailors who died after the destroyer collided with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan. hlavac.tyler@stripes.com
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MILITARY
Beacon use opens ships to online mapping BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes
Naval enthusiasts are tweeting what they believe are U.S. warship positions after commanders ordered the vessels to activate their beacons while in congested waters to avoid collisions. The order to turn on the Automatic Identification System locators, reported by NPR on Sept. 29, follows collisions that have killed 17 sailors in the Pacific in recent months. However, it appears that the new procedure is also allowing people to track the warships online. A tweet posted Sunday that maps the location of a “US GOV VSL” approaching Hong Kong reads, “Reason to believe this is USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).” The aircraft carrier and the guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee anchored near Hong Kong on Monday, a Pacific Fleet statement said. NPR reported that it still isn’t clear whether the USS Fitzgerald was transmitting its AIS at the time of a June collision that killed seven sailors off the coast of Japan. However, it is known that the USS John S. McCain was not when it hit a merchant ship near Singapore two months later, killing 10. Retired Vice Adm. William Douglas Crowder, a former 7th Fleet commander and a former deputy chief of naval operations, told NPR that Navy ships typically use
Screenshot from Twitter
A tweet posted Sunday that maps the location of a “US GOV VSL” approaching Hong Kong reads, “Reason to believe this is USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).” locators in receive-only mode, which allows them to see other vessels using the system but doesn’t let other ships see them. “It’s all about operational security,” Crowder said. “We
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don’t want to be broadcasting our exact position to everyone.” However, Lyle Goldstein, an associate professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War Col-
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lege in Newport, R.I., said in an email that he doesn’t think America’s potential adversaries will gain much by studying warships’ AIS data. “Chinese ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) would already have a rather good notion of the locations of U.S. surface ships from a variety of sources, including satellite monitoring, Skywave Radar, the large Chinese fishing and merchant fleets, as well as China’s huge Coast Guard and related maritime patrol assets,” he said. Classic espionage techniques are also likely being used to track U.S. warships operating near places such as Singapore, he said. During World War II, a network of 400 Australian and New Zealand military officers,
Pacific Islanders and escaped prisoners of war monitored Japanese ship movements in the Pacific. “No one can imagine that U.S. ships operate off of Hong Kong undetected,” Goldstein said. Turning on the locators in congested waters is a prudent measure that won’t have a major impact on potential adversary knowledge of U.S. ship movements, he said. “I would imagine that anyways there are certain sensitive zones (near Philippines and Japan for example) wherein U.S. warships will continue to operate without active beacons as before for military security purposes,” he said. robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1
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7:15pm “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
Columbia County Amphitheater Part of the Screen on the Green series. $1 per person; free, children 3 and younger. Call 803-522-9228 or visit csrakids.com.
Sat Oct 7
8am Project Lifting Spirits 5K/10K
Savannah Rapids Park Project Lifting Spirits Inc. provides morale-boosting events and items to local wounded troops and goodie boxes to deployed wounded troops. $20-$30. Visit projectliftingspirits. com/GArace2017.
7pm - 9:30pm Swing & Sway
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Evening celebration full of live music, food vendors and dancing. Picnic blankets, lawn chairs, beverages and bug spray welcome. $10; advance; $15; day of show. Pre-registration required. Email Gina.Lusignan@ phinzycenter.org or call 706-3961416.
9am - 5pm Oliver Hardy Festival Downtown Harlem The 29th annual event will feature food and craft vendors, inflatables,
Friday, October 6, 2017
live entertainment and Laurel and Hardy impersonators. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. Visit harlemga.org or call 706-556-0043. 10am Salvation Army Auto Auction 1384 Greene Street Registration starts at 8 a.m. for a $5 fee. Auto preview days to be held 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5; and Friday, Oct. 6, at 1384 Greene Street. Visit SalvationArmyCars.com or call 706-434-3178.
Sun Oct 8
3pm Russian String Orchestra
AU’s Maxwell Theatre The Russian String Orchestra is composed of some of Russia’s finest young string players. $40, general; $5, students. Children must be 6 years or older. Visit augusta.edu/ maxwelltheatre or call 706-667-4100.
Thu Oct 12
6pm - 9pm Ladies Night Out Bunco Night
Legends Club Doctors Hospital event invites women to roll the dice, learn about health and support a great cause. Raffles, hors d’oeuvres and drinks. $20. Pre-registration required. Visit doctors-hospital.net or call 706-6513232.
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